Potential Solution to the Plastic Plague

Abstract

In the past 117 years since the first plastic was created, the advancements leading up to today were very significant and beneficial for humanity, however, at the expense of our environment. Two probable solutions to plastic pollution are discussed in this paper: microorganisms and nanoparticles (NPs). Microorganisms essentially use three steps to degrade plastic, first they attach to the polymer, then use it as the carbon source, finally degrading the polymer. Aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation are two different types of methods that microorganisms use; this leads to a difference in products when polymers are degraded. Aerobic biodegradation generally has products like carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O), while anaerobic has a very large variety of different compounds. Three bacteria were found to be the most efficient, Bacillus subtilis ATCC 21332, Comamonas acidovorans TB-35, and Gloeophyllum trabeum. Between the two methods of plastic degradation, microorganisms are natural with less potentially harmful byproducts during the process of biodegradation. However, microorganisms are slower to degrade compared to NPs, as they use living bacteria. NPs use different coatings to enhance their process of plastic degradation, helping with the process of chemical reactions to degrade the polymer. Titania Nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) and Silver Nanoparticles (Ag NPs) were found to be among the most efficient with 68% to 200 hours and 64.5% to 840 hours, respectively. NPs is a better solution to invest in than microorganisms as it is faster and more efficient, with more research the harmful byproducts may be mitigated.